The weekly cartoon caption contest in the New Yorker magazine is what retired Judge Glen Reiser calls “a thing.”

It attracts more than 5,000 entries every week. Roger Ebert, the late film critic, submitted captions 200 times and won once. Chicago lawyer Lawrence Wood entered more than 900 times. He won on eight occasions and was a finalist in seven more, setting the contest’s record, according to an essay he wrote in The Atlantic.

The task of composing the perfect bit of dialogue for a drawing that may involve rabbits, tubas or clowns stirs a frenzy. Some participants post losing entries on social media. Frustrated competitors feel emboldened enough to approach Emma Allen, cartoon editor at the New Yorker, pretty much anywhere.

“The caption contest — or, more specifically, the deep injustice of not having won the caption contest — is the first thing most new acquaintances, distant family members, and total strangers on the subway feel compelled to confront me about,” she said in an email.

Reiser, 70, of Camarillo, unknowingly dipped his toe into that pool of obsession in April.

He’s a California native who once harbored a career goal of becoming a comedy writer. He ended up a lawyer, and for 20 years, served as a Ventura County Superior Court judge. He presided over land-use cases ranging from a bitter dispute over the view-challenging height of a Ventura County Medical Center tower to a lawsuit involving the modernization of Los Angeles International Airport.

He ruled against an oil-drilling project in upper Ojai and also an Oxnard city approval of a development near the Ormond Beach wetlands, earning a reputation as a steward of the environment.

After retiring from the bench five years ago, he took on an even heavier workload trying to find middle ground as a mediator in disputes over conservatorships, probates and trusts. Nearly two months ago, he was wading through a morass of briefs and needed a break.

Though he doesn’t subscribe to the New Yorker, he receives an emailed newsletter from the magazine. On this day, he glanced at a cartoon that showed a pair of clowns in full regalia discussing a painting in an art gallery. It made him think.

“I’ve always been terrified of clowns,” he said. “They’re not funny; they’re frightening.”

An idea emerged. In less than 10 minutes, Reiser submitted his first-ever entry into the contest.

“Ever since I can remember,” one clown mutters to the other, “paintings of children have given me nightmares.”

Reiser dove back into his legal work, dismissing the contest from his mind. A couple of weeks later, he was told his entry was one was one of the three finalists selected by contest judges. All of the captions appeared in an April edition so readers could vote. Reiser learned of the results in a stream of emails from people he once knew.

His whim won.

It’s akin to the lottery with a notable exception. There’s no cash. The prize comes in seeing the caption with the winner’s name in the magazine.

Reiser hasn’t told many people. In a contest marked by people who enter week after week after week, he felt his victory was undeserved.

“It’s a little embarrassing,” he said. “I didn’t put in the effort.”

He did tell Tony Trembley, Camarillo city councilman and a friend for some 40 years. Trembley wasn’t surprised because of the judge’s razor wit and his ability at reading people, even caricature ones.

“It’s right in his wheelhouse,” Trembley said.

Reiser likely won’t enter again and knows that if he did, lightning almost certainly wouldn’t strike twice.

With or without the judge’s wit, thousands of people will compete and vent about it afterwards, as cartoon editor Allen can attest.

“I’d wager that for many, it’s not just a popular pastime, it’s a bit of an obsession, which is great, but please stop talking to me on the subway,“ she said.

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Retired Camarillo judge wins New Yorker’s caption contest